Thursday, January 29, 2009

Stepmill Science and the Countdown Continues

Do you see that over to the right?  That's right, 4 and a half months till I'm a Mrs!  Wow, I don't think I've ever thought of myself as a Mrs. before.  Kind of creepy, actually.  Makes me feel old!  I've thought of myself a wife and can definitely grasp that concept, but not a Mrs!

So the wedding planning is finally getting to me.  I'm so stressed.  It seems like it's all my mom & I talk about lately, and dollar $igns are fla$hing in our eye$.  Weddings are not cheap, people!  Do you know how much it costs to have 250 wedding cupcakes?  You don't want to know.  The figure is haunting me.  How did you wives out there do it?  Help a bride out with some cheap tricks!

I'm posting on campus right now, so I don't have my workout log in front of me (I'm scribbling on the back of my already filled up log at this point).  But as best I can remember, workouts for this week included:

  • A 3 miler on Monday.  On the TM, of course, and at a 1% incline, of course.  Do you treadmillers out there use the incline for your runs?  I read a couple of studies that concluded putting it at a 1% grade equalizes you to running outside, and I've been faithfully doing it since.  The fiance doesn't, though, because he thinks it's the root of his shin splits.  I still don't have my HRM so I have no idea of my stats for this run, but I think I remember going pretty fast.  
  • Tuesday, I got on the stepmill for 20 minutes.  The stepmill should not be confused with the stairmaster (ew).  This bad boy is the super hugely imposing moving staircase from the 80s that you never really see anybody using.  But let me tell you, if I'm not running, you can find me doing my cardio on the stepmill from now on!  I forgot how much of a buttbuster it is.  I had a great time and was able to read a book; you don't bounce around as much as you would on an elliptical, and I definitely worked up a sweat.  I followed up with some upper body weight lifting.  My legs were sore from the previous day's quickie run.  You will most likely never see me splitting up my strength workouts into upper and lower body; I've learned the benefits of combining the two: a more dynamic, natural workout, using the whole body the way it was created to move.  This is also why you'll never find me on the circuit weight machines.  What good is strength training going to do you in real life if you're strapped down in a chair isolating only one muscle group at a time?  
  • Wednesday I seriously considered skipping my scheduled 5 mile run.  I've actually had a long, hard week, and I just wanted to curl up in bed and VEG OUT.  But I'm too stubborn to relax...I headed to the gym, telling myself to at least do 3 miles and see how I feel.  I ended up doing 4 and it felt amazing.  Duh; exercise will always increase your mood and energy levels.  Hormones, people.  I didn't track my time, but I did alternate between running at 6.0 for 10 minutes, then 7.0 for ten minutes.  It was a good medium for me because while I wasn't exactly doing speed intervals, I was still training my body to "rest" at 6.0 mph (my goal race pace).  I would have knocked out the 5th mile, but it was around 8pm at that point and I was ready for dinner!
Today I would have 3 miles to do, but since I cut back yesterday I'm going to aim for 4 today as well.  Want to make sure I cover all my bases;)  Also, in about 45 minutes the fiance & I have our first premarital counseling session with our pastor!  

Has this week been dragging for anyone else?  Usually, my weeks fly by and the weekend's here before I know it.  I can't exactly get excited for Friday tomorrow, because after class I work till 6, so it's close to 7 by the time I get home, and by then I'm already exhausted and just want to eat and sit on the couch.  Real fun, huh?

3 comments:

chelseajean said...

you got it girl!!! keep trekking!

Amy said...

We did our whole wedding under 5,000 not counting the dress. I don't recommend it. Basically, I didn't invite any of my friends from college. Zach didn't invite his either. We said it was 'family only'. We also had no music, no limo, no alcohol, day time wedding, etc.. You can do it for cheaper, but if you can afford it, I say go big and don't feel bad. You only get married once!

Billy Colonna said...

To answer all of your questions:
yes, I wouldn't know, no, not a lot of good, no, and yes.

You and I both know that you didn't run tonight. How could you when you were busy taking me out to Moe's.